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Water forecast 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide in Eastern Norton Sound

NWS Fairbanks says a warm front from a strong Bering Sea low will push water 2 to 4 feet above the normal high tide line in Eastern Norton Sound from late Thursday through Saturday morning, with beach erosion possible and gusts to 50 mph Thursday.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews12h ago2 min readAI
Eastern Norton Sound, Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Water forecast 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide in Eastern Norton Sound

Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries

Yukon families can take chum again, but only in the tributaries. The mainstem carries the Canadian-origin run, projected far below its border goal.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon families get chum back, but only in the tributaries

Storm-displaced western Alaska workers can still get job help

Western Alaska workers displaced by last fall's storms can still get job-search help at the state's job centers, even as one disaster aid deadline has passed.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min readAI
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Storm-displaced western Alaska workers can still get job help

Charter plane crash at Cape Newenham radar site kills eight

Eight people died when a charter plane crashed on approach to the Cape Newenham radar site in western Alaska. Two pilots and six passengers were aboard.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Cape Newenham, Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Charter plane crash at Cape Newenham radar site kills eight

Yukon coho are running far below normal, and even a strong chum year likely won't reopen fishing

Yukon River coho are running far below normal as their peak season opens, and even a strong fall chum year likely won't reopen subsistence fishing.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon coho are running far below normal, and even a strong chum year likely won't reopen fishing

Rain is coming to the Interior, and the small creeks will rise — but the big rivers are low enough to take it

Rain will raise the small creeks feeding the Koyukuk and Middle Yukon, but the big rivers are low enough to take it — a routine wet stretch, not a threat.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: Rain is coming to the Interior, and the small creeks will rise — but the big rivers are low enough to take it

Saint Mary's woman, 42, dies pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point

Tragic accident - a woman from Saint Mary's died Saturday night after being pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point, Troopers said

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Pitkas Point, Alaska
Cover image for article: Saint Mary's woman, 42, dies pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point

Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Yukon fall salmon fishing closed at the peak of the season for Interior households — not for a weak run, but because Canada's treaty share has to pass first.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million

Nearly four years after Typhoon Merbok, only about 15% of the FEMA rebuild money has been paid out — and the deadline to finish the work is seven weeks away.

Lucas Brownby Lucas Brown2w ago3 min readAI
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million

From California to Southeast Alaska, salmon fisheries are closing in lockstep this week — under the same treaty

Southeast Alaska's king troll fishery hit its treaty cap and closed the same week West Coast fisheries are closing — all tied to the same shared Chinook.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Cover image for article: From California to Southeast Alaska, salmon fisheries are closing in lockstep this week — under the same treaty

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels

Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes Saturday as the Canada-bound run falls far below treaty levels, deepening food-security strain for families.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River
Cover image for article: Yukon fall chum and coho fishing closes as the Canadian-bound run comes in far below treaty levels

Electric bills would rise in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities

Electric bills would rise about 4.75% in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities under an AVEC proposal, on customers already paying several times urban rates.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Alaska
Cover image for article: Electric bills would rise in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities

Yukon salmon conservation rules are now locked into state regulation, not left to managers' discretion

Yukon salmon conservation is now binding state regulation — fixed thresholds that keep the river's own commercial and much subsistence fishing closed.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon salmon conservation rules are now locked into state regulation, not left to managers' discretion

The Yukon River is mostly closed to salmon fishing this year

The Yukon is mostly closed to salmon fishing in 2026 — kings, chum, likely coho — with runs badly depressed and kings barred under a U.S.-Canada pact.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: The Yukon River is mostly closed to salmon fishing this year

Alaska would give up a land claim so three Native Vietnam veterans can finally get their allotments

Alaska would give up its claim to 480 acres on the Yukon so three Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans can finally get land allotments cut off when Congress ended the program in 1971.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaska would give up a land claim so three Native Vietnam veterans can finally get their allotments

Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short

Fall chum and coho subsistence fishing is closing across the upper Yukon as the run falls short, the last in a season of closures that moved steadily up the river.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon fall salmon subsistence fishing closes as the run falls short

An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone

An Ekwok village safety officer was assaulted at the clinic following up on a case — the risk of being the lone law enforcement in a remote village.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Ekwok, Alaska
Cover image for article: An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone

Yukon District 4 federal waters open to summer chum subsistence with selective gear only

Federal and state managers opened Yukon District 4 and Koyukuk River to summer chum subsistence harvest with selective gear only, banning gillnets to protect Chinook salmon through late July.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon District 4 federal waters open to summer chum subsistence with selective gear only

Alaska closes District 4 subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho starting Wednesday

Alaska closes subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho salmon in District 4 starting Wednesday because the 2026 run is projected too weak to meet Canadian treaty obligations.

Alaska Newsby Alaska News1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Alaska closes District 4 subsistence fishing for fall chum and coho starting Wednesday

Kreiss-Tomkins documents $20 milk, absent law enforcement in 11 Yukon River villages

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins documented $20 milk, $12 gas, scarce law enforcement, and collapsed salmon runs across 11 Yukon River villages in a four-day boat tour.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Kreiss-Tomkins documents $20 milk, absent law enforcement in 11 Yukon River villages

ADF&G issues four commercial salmon emergency orders across Alaska Peninsula, Kuskokwim, and Kotzebue areas in three days

ADF&G issued four emergency orders in three days for salmon fisheries. • Sand Point and Port Moller openings target sockeye and mixed stocks. • Kuskokwim Bay and Kotzebue Sound orders adjust chum salmon harvest rules. • Fishermen must track shifting schedules as run conditions dictate changes.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: ADF&G issues four commercial salmon emergency orders across Alaska Peninsula, Kuskokwim, and Kotzebue areas in three days

Yukon District 3 closes to fall chum and coho subsistence Saturday as treaty goals fall short

Alaska closes fall chum and coho subsistence fishing in Yukon District 3 and Innoko River on Saturday because Canadian treaty goals will not be met.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River District 3, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon District 3 closes to fall chum and coho subsistence Saturday as treaty goals fall short

Yukon Chinook count at Eagle stands at 1,633, a third of average; ADF&G launches telemetry study

Yukon Chinook salmon are running at one-third of normal, forcing subsistence closures, and ADF&G is tagging fish to find out why.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon Chinook count at Eagle stands at 1,633, a third of average; ADF&G launches telemetry study

Weak fall run closes Yukon River chum fishing July 22

A weak fall chum run that may fall short of U.S.-Canada treaty minimums is closing Yukon River chum fishing — sport and subsistence — from July 22 through year's end.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Yukon River
Cover image for article: Weak fall run closes Yukon River chum fishing July 22

Kuskokwim subsistence fishing reopens as salmon run strong

Subsistence fishing is back open on the lower Kuskokwim as salmon run strong — and the state is managing the mainstem again after losing a long fight over who controls the river.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Kuskokwim River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Kuskokwim subsistence fishing reopens as salmon run strong

Bristol Bay is hauling in millions of sockeye — and it's still a down year

Bristol Bay has already landed 26+ million sockeye — a staggering haul that's somehow still a down year, running about a quarter below its 10-year average.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Bristol Bay, Alaska
Cover image for article: Bristol Bay is hauling in millions of sockeye — and it's still a down year

A Native org is coaching Yukon harvesters on how to testify effectively

Tanana Chiefs Conference is running a July 24 workshop coaching Yukon harvesters to testify effectively on salmon policy — pressing a bycatch argument that scientists say is only part of the story.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Yukon-Tanana Region, Alaska
Cover image for article: A Native org is coaching Yukon harvesters on how to testify effectively

Yukon summer chum run tops 900,000 projection, opening subsistence windows across drainage

Summer chum salmon run on the Yukon River is tracking above 900,000 fish, more than double the spring forecast, opening subsistence harvest windows across most of the drainage through late July.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon summer chum run tops 900,000 projection, opening subsistence windows across drainage

Weak kings, strong chum: the Yukon's salmon rules split by the run

On the Yukon this week: kings are weak so restrictions continue, summer chum is strong so openings arrive, and fall chum has slipped enough to close the Lower Yukon early.

Bill AlaskaNewsby Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Weak kings, strong chum: the Yukon's salmon rules split by the run

Three wildfires close to Native allotments near Huslia and Galena as lightning siege continues

Three lightning fires are burning near Native allotments in western Alaska, with smokejumpers responding as part of a 19-fire surge across the state.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readAI
Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Three wildfires close to Native allotments near Huslia and Galena as lightning siege continues

Yukon Chinook sonar count 34% below average; fall chum added to concern list

Yukon Chinook count at 95,370 by July 6, down 34 percent from average and short of Alaska and Canadian escapement goals. • Fall chum designated a stock of management concern, forcing communities to restrict harvest on two salmon species at once. • Summer chum run tracking above 900,000 fish, offering some relief for subsistence harvesters.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon Chinook sonar count 34% below average; fall chum added to concern list

Five wildfire investigations span Interior to western Alaska

Look into the fires

Alaska Newsby Alaska News1mo ago1 min readAI
Interior to Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Five wildfire investigations span Interior to western Alaska

Heatwave-driven mortality identified as key cause of Yukon Chinook crash

A new study pins the Yukon Chinook collapse on heatwave-driven deaths of young salmon at sea, not just low recruitment or overharvest, meaning harvest closures alone won't fix the crash.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Heatwave-driven mortality identified as key cause of Yukon Chinook crash

Five wildfires burning across Interior and Western Alaska as Siruk reaches 60% containment

The Siruk Fire near Allakaket reached 60% containment at 619 acres as crews push against forecast heat and critically dry conditions across five active Interior and Western Alaska fires.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Interior and Western Alaska
Cover image for article: Five wildfires burning across Interior and Western Alaska as Siruk reaches 60% containment

Red Flag Warnings cover five western Alaska regions Tuesday as lightning threat may push to North Slope

NWS Fairbanks issued simultaneous Red Flag Warnings for five regions of western and interior Alaska on Tuesday, with Fire Weather Watches extending the threat into Wednesday and forecasters uncertain how far north thunderstorms will travel.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Western Alaska and Interior Alaska
Cover image for article: Red Flag Warnings cover five western Alaska regions Tuesday as lightning threat may push to North Slope

Yukon River gillnet closures spread as Chinook and chum run far below average

Alaska closed all Yukon River gillnet fishing after Chinook and chum runs fell far below historic averages, with Chinook passage at Pilot Station running 41 percent below the long-term average.

Walter AlaskaNewsby Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Yukon River, Alaska
Cover image for article: Yukon River gillnet closures spread as Chinook and chum run far below average

Yukon River District 4 opens for summer chum; Chinook closures hold

Yukon River District 4 opens summer chum harvest July 2 through late July, but all Chinook must be released alive under a rebuilding agreement that closes Chinook fisheries through 2030.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readAI
Yukon River
Cover image for article: Yukon River District 4 opens for summer chum; Chinook closures hold

North Pacific council directs Ecosystem Committee to revise 2004 groundfish policy goals

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously Tuesday to declare its triennial groundfish policy review complete and directed the Ecosystem Committee to develop specific language changes before any formal FMP amendment begins, focusing on two goals written in 2004 that no longer reflect current council practice.

Alaska Newsby Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago3 min readAI
Cover image for article: North Pacific council directs Ecosystem Committee to revise 2004 groundfish policy goals

Bethel wants to charge owners who let buildings sit empty and rot

Bethel would charge owners to leave buildings empty, and help demolish burnt-out ones — waiving the cost if the owner rebuilds, or filing a lien if not.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Bethel, Alaska
Cover image for article: Bethel wants to charge owners who let buildings sit empty and rot

Rough water off Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts, easing by Sunday

Small craft advisories are up for Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts through Friday — winds near 25 knots, seas to 7 feet — before things calm down by Sunday.

Maggie AlaskaNewsby Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
Arctic and Northwestern Alaska coastal waters
Cover image for article: Rough water off Alaska's Arctic and Northwest coasts, easing by Sunday